Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

1980? My yellow duster. A 74 I think. Slant 6, 3 speed on the floor, crank sunroof. And lots of rust.

stickguy

qbrozen said:

Hybrid hatchback anyone?
Pics not working again today, but Rodo has a base Ioniq plug-in for $200/mo with $200 DAS for 36/12k.

If I needed a spare car right now, I would be all over that. I assume it’s the engine + plug in version, not full EV.

ab348

tjc78 said:

A tossup as to which was the better car. I enjoyed the Delta much more.

That generation LaCrosse... I think I would have preferred the Delta too.

It's main issue was a bad transmission that could never be fixed right by incompetent dealer service depts under warranty. After it came out for the third time with no resolution I was highly motivated to dump it.

If we are going back in time even further:

1990 - 1990 Golf GTI (loved that car)
1980 - 1977 Pontiac LeMans 2-door

graphicguy

Oooohhhhh...so we're going back even further?

1980...in college....1969 MGB GT. Took every bit of extra nickels I had and every weekend busting knuckles to keep it on the road. Slow but fun (when it ran).

1990...1987 Mercury Sable (company car which ate up steering racks at an alarming rate). 1987 BMW 325is.

2000.....2000 BMW 328i.

suydam

In 1980 we had a 1979 Ford Fiesta and a ‘72 Mercury Capri, both MT. Don’t miss either one.

[Deleted User]

2010:

03 Odyssey EX
09 Civic LX

kyfdx

suydam said:

In 1980 we had a 1979 Ford Fiesta and a ‘72 Mercury Capri, both MT. Don’t miss either one.

Love the German Fords!

stickguy

I liked both of them. Back in the day a friends family had a new fiesta. I loved it. Got to drive it. And sadly, a Capri was on my dream car list!

fintail

Gotta love that era. One of my earliest car memories, probably dating back to 1981, is seeing my mom's mid 70's T-Bird in the driveway, hood up, my dad wrenching away, with some "spare" parts beside it. He removed some emissions junk, and apparently it much improved driveability.

I suppose I did have a vehicle in 1990, a "Coast Discovery" mountain bike, which wasn't a bad rig when I was 13.

1980: toy cars

cdnpinhead said:

I drove that car off the showroom floor in Edmonton with 3 miles on it. Drove it 224K miles until it tangled with a Suburban. Loved it, except for the miserable emissions stuff, most of which I took off or disabled, including putting on SU carbs from a '72. Good times!

suydam

1990 we had a 1988 Mazda 323 MT. And an ‘86 Plymouth Voyager. The Mazda was the first car I just loved. Great to drive and it lasted a long time. My teenage son learned to drive a stick on that vehicle.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

qbrozen said:

Hybrid hatchback anyone?
Pics not working again today, but Rodo has a base Ioniq plug-in for $200/mo with $200 DAS for 36/12k.

If I needed a spare car right now, I would be all over that. I assume it’s the engine + plug in version, not full EV.

Yup, plugin hybrid. By my math, we’d save more than $100/mo in fuel costs, so it effectively becomes $100/mo lease. Oddly, though, I don’t feel the “want” to swap out my equinox for it. Although... so it is an effective $3600 over 3 yrs. Figure $5k for my equinox private sale. So I’d be $1400 ahead, plus all repair costs on the chevy. But, OTOH, an SUV after knee surgery will be a welcomed companion.

stickguy

suydam said:

1990 we had a 1988 Mazda 323 MT. And an ‘86 Plymouth Voyager. The Mazda was the first car I just loved. Great to drive and it lasted a long time. My teenage son learned to drive a stick on that vehicle.

In 1990 we had a 1986 323 LX. 5 speed, sunroof. I too loved that car. Great seats, huge trunk. At that point it was joined by a 1990 Nissan extended cab PU. 5 speed, RWD, red. Quite fun. Went away the next year when we had a baby.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

suydam said:

1990 we had a 1988 Mazda 323 MT. And an ‘86 Plymouth Voyager. The Mazda was the first car I just loved. Great to drive and it lasted a long time. My teenage son learned to drive a stick on that vehicle.

In 1990 we had a 1986 323 LX. 5 speed, sunroof. I too loved that car. Great seats, huge trunk. At that point it was joined by a 1990 Nissan extended cab PU. 5 speed, RWD, red. Quite fun. Went away the next year when we had a baby.

In’94, traded the ‘82 Accord for an ‘88 323 GTX. That car was a hoot!

tjc78

Going low this year. 31

I’ll have 1 for sure.

laurasdada

2010
'02 Lexus RX300
'05 Acura TL

2000
'95 Saab 900s
'99 Chrysler 300M

1990
'88 Acura Integra

1980
In college, but use of dad's '78 Renault LeCar (not his only car!)

I'll guesstimate 39 for 2020.

jpp75

Fun reading what everyone had in years past.

2010 -- '09 4Runner SR5 4WD V6
2000 -- '96 Accord LX (Auto)

greg128

Being long in the tooth I go back to 1970 when I was in the Navy

1/1970
1966 VW Beetle

1/1980
1977 VW Scirocco
Wife: 1974 Buick Regal

1/1990
1988 Ford T-Bird Turbo Coupe
Wife: 1986 Pontiac 6000STE

1/2000
2000 Nissan Maxima
Wife: 1998 Chevy Astro Ext (for her business at the time)

1/2010
2005 Chrysler Crossfire SRT Supercharged (bought 2007)
Wife: 2008 Saturn Aura XR

My Favorite: 1961 Chevy Impala Bubbletop....3 spd on the floor black over red....in HS

explorerx4

Beginning of 1990:
88 Tbird Sport
83 F150(traded in early February for an 89 SHO)

1980:
74 Plymouth Duster

Agree that it's fun going back to see what what everyone drove at a specific time.

au1994

So its been a while guys. I was immersed in a job search and quite frankly got depressed, lost focus and just wasn’t myself for a period of time. I managed to put my happy face on and landed a great role about 2 months ago and I’ve been head down absorbing my new role. Thank you to those that reached out and offered support. Even if I didn’t respond it was indeed appreciated and I apologize for not responding. Now on to the fun stuff:

- I’ll predict 38 punches for next year. I hope we are one but I’ve been running numbers on the X1 and am pretty upside down. It’s just the car that neither of us likes. It does a lot well and nothing particularly wrong but neither if us like it. We’d be in the market for another but bigger SUV. MDX or something similar.

In 1990 I was driving a 66 Mustang convertible
2000 - 1998 Explorer XLT in medium wedge wood blue. I loved it!
2010 - TLX no tech in silver.
2020 - Crosstrek

suydam

2000: ‘95 Honda Civic DX 5 speed
‘92 Toyota Previa
2010: ‘01 Nissan Maxima (My very favorite vehicle prior to the Volt)
‘04 Pontiac Vibe (my economy move, deeply regretted)

28firefighter

Congrats, @au1994! Glad you were able to turn things around and land on your feet!

28firefighter

This is an interesting one for the price:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/d/renton-2005-acura-tl-6-speed/7048549983.html

High miles but seems to have been maintained. I'd be interested at $4k or less...

andres3

corvette said:

2019 punch list (total 40):
01/15/19 jp755 2008 Volvo C30 55k
01/28/19 laurasdada’s GF 2019 Mazda CX-5
02/18/19 Sandman6472’s daughter 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier
02/26/19 sda’s sister 2019 Acura RDX Advance
02/26/19 sda’s daughter 2006 Acura TL Navi (xxxk)
03/22/19 coldinohio 2017 Porsche Macan CPO V6 xxk
03/31/19 fintail 2019 Mercedes E450 4Matic wagon (lease)
04/05/19 jmonroe 2018 Subaru Legacy 3.6R 7k
04/23/19 tifighter 2018 Tesla Model X Performance 2k (demo)
05/17/19 xwesx 2009 Ford Focus SE sedan 135k (manual everything)
06/29/19 28firefighter 2019 Subaru Outback 3.6 Limited (lease)
07/05/19 carnaught 2019 Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited
07/05/19 fezo 2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring 20k
07/05/19 fezo 2014 Mazda 3 Sport hatchback xxk
07/14/19 andres3 2015 Audi A4 tech + premium 16k
07/21/19 sda 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus + technology 26k
07/26/19 greg128 2018 Buick Lacrosse Premium FWD 14k
08/05/19 breld 2018 VW Golf GTI SE 10k
08/10/19 pensfan83 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off Road 2y/24k lease
08/17/19 tjc78 2019 Volvo S60 T6 Inscription (lease)
08/22/19 andres3 2019 VW Tiguan
08/26/19 breld 2019 VW Alltrack
09/12/19 qbrozen 2008 Dodge Charger RT 75k
09/15/19 qbrozen 2010 Chevrolet Equinox 2.4 AWD 120k
09/17/19 nyccarguy 2019 Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport 4x4 Double Cab Long Bed 24 month/15k lease
09/28/19 28firefighter 2019 BMW i3 REX (lease)
10/08/19 laurasdada 2010 Mazda3s Sport xxk
10/10/19 mjfloyd1 2018 Audi Q7 3.0T Premium 18k
10/12/19 explorerx4 2019 Lincoln MKZ AWD Reserve 1
10/28/19 28firefighter’s in-laws 2019 Mercedes GLA250 4Matic P01 5k loaner 3/22.5k lease
11/04/19 kyfdx 2008 Honda Fit Sport 133k
11/09/19 breld 2019 Volvo V90 2/24 lease
11/18/19 tjc78 2020 Toyota RAV4 3/36 lease
11/25/19 mb_enthusiast 2017 Porsche Cayenne S xxk
11/27/19 mb_enthusiast 2015 Mercedes GL63 AMG xxk
11/27/19 nyccarguy’s mom 2020 Lexus RX350 (lease) 27 month / 20k lease
11/xx/19 venture 2020 Subaru Ascent
12/09/19 js06gv 2019 Ford Mustang GT Premium
12/12/19 steine13 2007 Mazda6 220k
12/14/19 bryan 2019 Cadillac XTS Luxury
12/15/19 sandman6472 (daughter) 2020 Hyundai Accent SE

Really picked up the pace the last quarter of 2019!

andres3

What I remember from January 2010 is that the economy had imploded, there were no jobs in my field, and the bailout bonanza was in full swing, along with other government cons like CASH 4 CLUNKERS.

Therefore, I had my '06 A3 and kept it a long time.

Michaell

While all this nostalgia is nice, I've got a bit of an off-the-wall request for those of you in the greater Boston area.

The daughter of a friend of mine has scored an internship at Samuel Adams Brewery. Don't know exactly what she'll be doing there (taste tester?), but she is looking for a place to stay through August.

I don't think she'll be making a lot, so she's likely looking for a room in a house or a place to share. Any thoughts as to where or how she should begin the search would be great.

She starts a week from Monday, and I know she's been looking since she heard about the offer, but some local perspective would be great.

graphicguy

Well....MAYBE...PERHAPS...I MIGHT have a punch to report. Will know by tomorrow if they accepted my super skinny offer!

stickguy

28firefighter said:

This is an interesting one for the price:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/d/renton-2005-acura-tl-6-speed/7048549983.html

High miles but seems to have been maintained. I'd be interested at $4k or less...

I do like that. without an AT, the miles don't bother me, especially with the stuff they did recently. If it checks out and the clutch is tight, not worried about life left in it.

stickguy

graphicguy said:

Well....MAYBE...PERHAPS...I MIGHT have a punch to report. Will know by tomorrow if they accepted my super skinny offer!

Uh oh. We should start a pool.

I will go out on a limb and say it is a high zoot Stinger.

roadburner

1/1/2000
1998 318ti Active
1995 318ti Club Sport
1993 Pathfinder SE

1/1/1990
1988 Scorpio
1987 535is

1/1/1980
1974 Monte Carlo
1969 SPL311

tjc78

graphicguy said:

Well....MAYBE...PERHAPS...I MIGHT have a punch to report. Will know by tomorrow if they accepted my super skinny offer!

+1 on Stinger

explorerx4

@Michaell,
Geographically Boston is only a couple of hours way but its a whole different world.
Only thing I can think of is, maybe some off campus college kids are looking for a 2nd semester roommate.

pensfan83

I'll go with its counterpart, a G70.

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

graphicguy said:

Well....MAYBE...PERHAPS...I MIGHT have a punch to report. Will know by tomorrow if they accepted my super skinny offer!

+1 on Stinger

I think it’s the Volvo

Sandman6472

1/1/1980

1976 Izuzu Opel.
Bought used and was the 1st year Izuzu made the Opel. It was AWFUL and issues started at day 1. Bought it in 1977. Ist day of orientation at the US Postal Service, 12/27/1980, auto tranny falls out as I'm getting onto I-95 in West Palm Beach to go home to Boca Raton. First frickin' day at my new job. Had vehicle towed to Aamco and my dad paid to have it fixed as I had not gotten my first paycheck yet. Car just wasn't right after I got it back.

2/1/1981

1979 Datsun B-210 hatchback (used ex-rental)

Married 9/13/1981

1979 Datsun B-210
1977 Buick Skylark (wife's 1st vehicle, bought by parents)

tjc78

kyfdx said:

tjc78 said:

graphicguy said:

Well....MAYBE...PERHAPS...I MIGHT have a punch to report. Will know by tomorrow if they accepted my super skinny offer!

+1 on Stinger

I think it’s the Volvo

Well... I’ll certainly approve then!

Sandman6472

SB55, keep the Mazda!! Maybe just downsize the wedding a bit. My kid is also getting married this year but not letting it stop me from getting a new vehicle if I want one. She's having a smallish wedding and they are paying a good part of it as they're both in their mid thirties now. We'll give her a nice amount to help defray some of the costs but we're both still working now, and they both get it. From what I've been reading, one can have a very nice wedding without spending a fortune on it. Finding many good ideas that aren't that expensive and look really nice. And it can still be a great event at a fraction of the price of a very expensive one!
Get creative like we are. You'd be surprised what's out there...just start looking!!

stickguy

whatever GG is kicking the tires on, I assume it will be a lease this time.

nyccarguy

28firefighter said:

This is an interesting one for the price:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/est/cto/d/renton-2005-acura-tl-6-speed/7048549983.html

High miles but seems to have been maintained. I'd be interested at $4k or less...

Nice rig. You have to assume it’s going to need a new clutch sooner rather than later. It’d be a much more attractive buy at $3,750.

carnaught

@corvette, nice work on the 2019 car tabulations - thanks!

My guess for 2020 is 42.

carnaught

My cars Jan. 2010 were a 2009 BMW 328 and a 2009 Infiniti G37 coupe.

explorerx4

I think cdnpinhead was only one to have a semi truck in any decade.

28firefighter

That was quick, @graphicguy.

Re the TL, that’s exactly the number I was thinking @nyccarguy. Maybe a bit more if clutch and timing belt were done recently.

As a practical go fast car it checks a lot of boxes.

corvette

nyccarguy said:

Happy New Year to all my Chronic Car Buyer buddies!

I don’t think my Mom’s RX lease qualifies as a punch. I just wanted to tell the tale of the hunt to the board.

nyc, I generally count close family members' purchases as punches, if it was discussed here.

I'm going through catching up and adding everyone's guesses tonight. Doggo has been shaking her head a lot the past few days and scratching her ears. The mobile vet came out today and confirmed an ear infection in her left ear. Thankfully, we caught it early, so it's only mildly inflamed at this point and shouldn't be causing her too much pain.

kyfdx

carnaught said:

@corvette, nice work on the 2019 car tabulations - thanks!

My guess for 2020 is 42.

Ditto... nice work!

stickguy

I did a "consulting" project Tuesday. Saw on facebook an old friend of my mothers (who I know a bit now) had her car self destruct Sunday or Monday. so I reached out to offer help. After a bunch of messaging and some research I sent various links and she found some other options I looked at for her (online, she lives 2 hours away so not going to any of my local haunts!)

ended up telling her that the dealer would be open NYD so she went over, looked at a couple and ended up using an autotrader price from them to get a deal she was happy with. A 2017 Elantra SE (base level, what she wanted). CPO with 29K on it. New tires and front brakes. Looked very clean. Ended up paying IIRC $11,300. Should get a lot of cheap years out of it, and has lots of warranty to go. So, might not have been the deal of the century, but a solid car and didn't get ripped off IMO.

I was more interested in the 2017 Mazda 3 sport with an option package (BLIS and a few other things), about the same miles, CPO and about $13,200. But, no CD player (her big must have!)

corvette

kyfdx said:

We could go back to 1980, but thinking that will really thin out the responses.

1980: not born yet
1990: I had toy cars + parents had a 1990 Honda CRX Si and a 1990 Volvo 740 GL.

stickguy

I would have liked your parents!

tjc78

In 1990 my Mom had an 85 Dodge Charger, Stepdad had an 83 Chrysler E-class. My dad had an 87 Dodge Shadow ES Turbo.

Lots of Mopar back then since my Uncle ran a Dodge dealer.

sb55

Sandman6472 said:

SB55, keep the Mazda!! Maybe just downsize the wedding a bit. My kid is also getting married this year but not letting it stop me from getting a new vehicle if I want one. She's having a smallish wedding and they are paying a good part of it as they're both in their mid thirties now. We'll give her a nice amount to help defray some of the costs but we're both still working now, and they both get it. From what I've been reading, one can have a very nice wedding without spending a fortune on it. Finding many good ideas that aren't that expensive and look really nice. And it can still be a great event at a fraction of the price of a very expensive one!
Get creative like we are. You'd be surprised what's out there...just start looking!!

I guess that we're being old fashioned and will foot most of the bill. My daughter has always wanted a wedding here (on our property on Lake Champlain). Fortunately we're financially able to do it, but it still pains me to write the big checks.
As for the Miata, I only put about 1500 miles on it last year, so it's just my "toy". Wife says don't sell it, so that's a plus.

nyccarguy

Cars in our household circa January 1, 1990:

My Dad's 1966 Corvette was occupying it's spot in the garage and being driven on sunny weekends over the summer.

Dad's daily driver was a 1987 Ford Bronco II XLT 4WD w/ a 5 Speed Stick

Mom's very troubled 1985 Volvo 740 Turbo was still with us. Black Exterior/Red with White Striped Cloth Interior. It would be replaced that March with a 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300E.